HEARSE
by You'veGotMeAndJesus
Summary: Just a simple little one-shot. Clare wants something from Eli, and she knows exactly how to get it. Not Christian oriented except for small mention of Upward sports. Read and enjoy!


***Author's Note: This is just a cute little one-shot based off of the game horse. I wrote this story way before Drop the World, so keep that in mind. Also, I have a small quote from one of my favorite TV shows, Drake and Josh. See if you can find out where it is. ;) I do not own Degrassi, these characters, the game horse, or Upward sports!* **

"E-li?" she whined my name in two syllables to make herself sound innocent. It wasn't going to work. "Please?" she begged. It was cute, but she wasn't going to break me down on this one.

"No, Clare!" I told her with assertiveness.

"Why not?" she questioned, giving me her puppy dog eyes. In most cases, that puppy dog would make me melt faster than you could say dog biscuit. However, this was one plead I wouldn't hear her out on. I had to stay strong, for more sakes than my own.

"There's no way, Clare. No way I am letting you take the wheel of my most prized possession!"

"C'mon, Eli. Morty likes me," she exclaimed.

"He sure won't when you crash him and he winds up in an old junkyard," I explained. "You don't even have your license!"

"But I've been driving before, Eli. It's not that big of a deal!" she attempted.

"No! Clare, besides you, that hearse is the most important thing to me in all the world. It has sentimental value. I won't even let my parents drive it."

"I understand that. And thanks. Maybe you should give me a couple pointers," she said with a sly grin, which I returned. We were taking a walk in the park after a long, PDA-less day at Degrassi Community School. We were taking advantage of not being on school grounds; I had my arm around her shoulders and hers were around my waist. We were walking along the path when I felt a slight tug to the right, toward the playground.

"Clare, where are we going?" I asked.

"Now, Eli, you know good and well that I can't answer that," she replied, giving me a taste of my own medicine. I never told her where we were going either.

We continued walking until we came to a basketball court. She positioned herself in front of me and brought us to a stop directly under the net. "What are you up to, Edwards?"

"I have a proposition for you," she replied.

"This can't be good," I said with a nervous chuckle.

"Oh, Elijah. There is nothing to be nervous about," she reassured. She then turned around and picked up a basketball that was oh-so-conveniently sitting beside the hoop. There was no doubt in my mind that she'd planned this ahead of time. "We're just going to play a little game."

"And there just so happened to be an abandoned basketball setting next to the courts when you have this bright idea?"

"What can I say? I know my boyfriend," she said with a giggle.

"Oh really?" I questioned, barely a whisper. She beat me to the punch. She stood on her tip-toes and collided her lips with mine. "Dang, you're good!"

"I know," she said matter-of-factly. "Now, we are going to play a little game."

"Here we go," I mumbled under my breath, earning a light smack in the arm from my girlfriend.

"The game we're playing is called, Hearse."

"Hearse?" I questioned, a quizzical look on my face.

"Based off of horse," she explained.

Now I was getting excited. Not too many people here know this about me, but Julia's death altered more than just my appearance. Believe it or not, I was on the basketball team at my old school; tht is how depressed I got when Julia died. I went through some major changes last year. Everyone thought it was a phase and I'd grow out of it. To be completely honest, so did I. It just kind of stuck, and now here I am.

"You sure you want to do this, Edwards? I haven't always been Dr. Doom, you know," I told her. I thought I'd give her a chance to back out.

"Think fast, Goldsworthy," Clare answered with a swift now of her head before she hurled the ball at my stomach. She had one of her smirks she picked up from me plastered on her face. I let out a small oumpf sound as the ball hit my stomach.

"Okay then," I told her. I walked to the free-throw line and shot my first basket. I made it with ease, but so did Clare. Next, I went to the half court line. It was here that I made my first fault.

"H!" exclaimed Clare.

"Think you can do better?"

"Well, I don't know," –swish-. She got a triumphant smile on her face.

"How in the? When did you? What the?"

"Will you be completing any of these questions?" Clare asked.

"Clare! How did you do that?" I finally managed to question.

"I managed to omit a tiny detail before you agreed to play this game," she said with a sly grin.

"And what was that?"

"Oh, just that I used to be the star basketball player on my church team," Clare nonchalantly explained.

"Church team?"

"Yeah. Upward. You bring kids into the community to play a sport and you teach them about God in the process."

"Oh," was all I could say. I was flabbergasted. She tricked me! Oh well, I tricked her, too, but to no avail.

"Surprised, Goldsworthy?"

"Yeah, actually. I am."

"Good. Let's keep playing."

*Several minutes later*

"Come on, Eli! I don't have all day! Mama's got a hearse to drive!" I had one more chance. I already had h-e-a-r-s. If I got an E, I would be handing the second most important thing to me over to the first, and she would show no mercy.

I was trying to stretch this last shot out as long as possible, and Clare was getting antsy. Oh well, might as well just get it over with. I took my stance, mentally prepared myself for failure, and shot the ball. "You have got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed as I watched the ball circle around the rim, deciding Morty's fate. I looked over at Clare: she had her middle finger around her index finger making a cross to wish herself luck. The ball kept on circling around the rim, taunting me. "Oh will you make up your mind already?"

Almost as though the ball heard my plea, it finally made its decision. Sadly, the results were not in my favor. A huge smile was plastered on the face of my beautiful girlfriend, almost making losing worth it.

"YES!" she exclaimed. "It's about time!"

"Alright, you win. My hearse is in your hands," I told her with obvious sadness in my voice.

"Oh, Elijah. I'll take good care of Morty," she told me sympathetically. She then started walking over to me, her flowy skirt blowing in the wind slightly. Clare finally got to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Plus, I'll make it worth your while," she said with a smirk. I was definitely rubbing off on her, and I wasn't complaining. She followed the smirk by pressing her lips to mine. My arms instinctively wrapped around her waist while hers were already around my neck. All too soon, she reached into my back pocket to grab the keys to the hearse, and then pulled away. Yup, she was definitely changed because of me. The more time we spent together, the more it became evident.

This action caused a shocked look to appear on my face as she took my hand and dragged me to the hearse. When we reached my beloved Morty, I let go of Clare's hand and laid my torso on the hood and stretched my arms out as if to give him a hug. "I'm sorry, Morty. It was nice knowing you," I said dramatically.

"Oh, shut up and get in," said Clare as she shoved me to the passenger door.

I obliged. "Where are we going?"

"Don't know. We've got the car of death, and the sun is shining. I feel like we can do anything." And with that, she put Morty into drive and away we went.

***I know the ending is just a smidch cheesy, but sometimes a little cheese is good. Still haven't gotten any reviews for my first story. If you could review for this one, that would be loveley :)***


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